Conditions and Info
Use of MountainViews is governed by
conditions.General information about the site is
here.Opinions in material here are not necessarily endorsed by MountainViews.
Hillwalking is a risk sport. Information in comments, walks or shared GPS tracks may not be accurate for example as regards safety or access permission. You are responsible for your safety and your permission to walk see
conditions.Credits and list definitions are listed here
Credits

Mount Gabriel was an important source of copper in the Early Bronze Age, with more than 30 mines having been found on its southern slopes, consisting of small tunnels dug into the mountainside. These are remarkably well preserved since they were mostly covered over by massive bog growth, leaving them untouched since the miners of the Early Bronze Age abandoned them [Daphne Pochin Mould, Discovering Cork]. The area was excavated in 1985 by William O'Brien, who judges that the mining was on such a large scale that it cannot have been merely for use in Ireland, but rather that the copper was mainly exported to Europe. The Irish name of the hill recorded by Bruno O'Donoghue in his Parish Histories and Placenames of West Cork is Cnoc Fhosta, 'hill of the encampment'.
Mount Gabriel is the highest hill in the Mizen/Sheeps Head area and the 906th highest in Ireland.Trackback: http://mountainviews.ie/summit/792/

Wet wet wet, wet to the skin, wet to the bone, 100% water I was. But there was only one left. Will I? won't I?, sure I'll go and have a look at the Aviation authority roadway, the one marked on the map on the north side of the hill.Ah Jaysus! the gates open! how fast can I drive up and down,
4 minutes to climb 220 meters.
And best of all, someone left me a Beer.
The preacher Caeser Otway travelling in this area in 1822 wrote
"On my way to Bantry I passed the dark and lofty Mount Gabriel and took my way over a dreary, comfortless tract of country.
Let no one say after looking at these moors , studded over with cabins crowded with children, pigs, goats, cocks and hens that a poor Irishman is not an industrious creature.
Men,women, boys and girls toiling up the mountainside with seaweed and sea sand,in baskets on their backs.
See them reclaiming from amidst rocks and bogs, patches of ground on which to cultivate their only food, the potato; And no one witnessing this struggle of human industry against nature, but must acknowlege that the Irish can be industious." Trackback: http://mountainviews.ie/summit/792/comment/5844/